Tag Archives: Single Malt

The Glenlivet 12 Year Old

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Speyside Single Malt, 12 Years, 40% ABV, $32

The aroma mildly peated corn (might be barley, but it smells like roasted corn to me), caramel and honey. After a while, I detect a feint bit of smoke and citrus. This is great aroma for a $32 whisky. The taste is mildly salty and woody, with notes of citrus and ginger. The ginger builds with the peppery spice and fades away nicely to a mildly bitter wood finish with a bit of salt and peaty smoke. Sipping more reveals notes of vanilla and hazelnut. The sweetness and acidity take a back seat to the spice until the latter begins to fade. By the time it does, the sweetness is nearly gone. This is good stuff and a great value for sure.

The story behind this whisky is included below. Read more here.

Two centuries ago, the illicit whisky from the remote and wild region of Glenlivet was sought after for its smooth and characterful qualities. The defining fruity ‘pineapple’ note from the sma’ stills lives on to this day in George Smith’s definitive legacy of The Glenlivet. The Single Malt That Started It All.

BenRiach 16 Year Old

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Speyside Single Malt, 16 Years, 40%, $59

Speyside Single Malt, 16 Years, 40% ABV, $60[/caption]

Grass, mild peat and toffee greet the nose along with just a whiff of smoke. The smell has a chewy sweetness to it that is quite nice. As it breathes, the aroma opens up with corn syrup, grapefruit and a touch of brine. The taste is initially salty and sweet with notes of grapefruit, vanilla and white pepper. The salt and pepper linger and give way to a woody aftertaste. The white pepper is the strongest flavor often the sweetness subsides and, unfortunately I’m not a big fan of this flavor. The salty heat is welcome, although a bit overdone without any other interesting spices. The initial flavor is quite good, but it degrades quickly from there to a grassy bitterness. The pepper doesn’t go away for minutes and I’m hesitant to dilute it with such muted flavors. Amazingly, a bit of water helps out greatly. The tangy vanilla up front improves and the pepper is quickly brought under control. Now it’s quite nice! I’m beginning to take a great interest in Speyside whisky.

According to Master of Malt:

A Gold Medal winner at the 2006 International Wine and Spirits Competition, this 16 year old BenRiach was also a 2006 Silver Medal winner at the International Spirits Challenge.

Poit Dhubh 8 Year Old (Un-Chilfiltered)

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Islands Single Malt, 8 Years, 43% ABV, $52

The nose is a rich blend of caramel, vanilla, orange and sweet pepper. There’s only a hint of smoke in the background and it took me a while to notice it along with a bit of salty air. The aroma is very nice and young, with little evidence of wood. The taste is slow coming with an initial saltiness followed by a lull before salty vanilla and orange mixture arrives. The finish is mildly sweet, noticeably salty then mildly leathery and peppery. The salty vanilla flavor persists for a while… long after the peppery finish transitions to a salty, buttery leather. Upon further tasting, I notice a buttery fir taste midway through and the leathery flavor becomes more of juniper. The sweetness is very pleasant and the salty, peppery, botanical quality complements it very well while the slight woody bitterness is nicely balanced. Also, I can’t forget to mention the bright citrus aspect. This is a nice whisky!

Here’s what Master of Malt has to say about this one:

A blended malt, Poit Dhubh is a mellow, lightly peated whisky that comprises mostly of Talisker, which reflects the fact its parent company, Pràban, is based on the Isle of Skye. The remainder of the blend is composed of various Speyside malts which imparts [?] and matured partly in sherry casks which lends it [the] typically rich flavours you would expect. Poit Dhubh [is] pronounced “potch ghoo” and means “black pot”, which is the gaelic term for an “illicit still”.

Highland Park 15 Year Old 1992 – Rare Select (Montgomerie’s)

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Islands Single Malt, 15 Years, 46% ABV, $104

I’m a day behind again. Here’s yesterday’s dram.

The nose is a soft note of seawater and smoke with caramel, grass and vanilla. The taste is very salty throughout with a lead-in of bitter orange, vanilla and ginger, followed up by white pepper, vanilla and more ginger. The finish is mildly leathery smoke and oak, with plenty of pepper. This is the saltiest whisky I’ve had and it seems to enhance the spicy aspects. The sweetness is mild, but it could use a bit more to provide balance. The smoke is most noticeable after the salt and pepper fade. Highland Park has come highly recommended, but I’m not too impressed with this one.

Master of Malt offers the following description:

A beautiful single cask Highland Park distilled on the 5th March 1992 and aged in cask 1233 before bottling by Montgomerie’s in June of 2007.

Longmorn 20 Year Old – Single Cask (Master of Malt)

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Speyside Single Malt, 20 Year Old, 55.5% ABV, $102

My nose is greeted with a mild amount of peat and smoke, roasted corn, raw rustic honey,grass and honey. There’s definitely a lot going on here. My mouth is assaulted with bitter oak, grass, peppery ginger, toffee and lemon, but it doesn’t last long. All of this ends rather abruptly, leaving a mildly bitter taste of oak as the pepper builds and fades quickly. After the water brings the peppery alcohol burn under control, many of the interesting flavors fade along with it. The fruits and spices fade to the background and the flavor becomes less interesting. There’s still a bit of tartness, but the bitterness takes over and lingers more than before. I had high hopes for this one while nosing, but those hopes also faded as the whisky did.

Here are the Master of Malt bottling notes:

This is a single cask, twenty year old Longmorn. Longmorn has remained a popular whisky ever since the now legendary fifteen year old bottling. Pleasingly this bottling shows another side to this revered Speyside whisky. Naturally this single cask Longmorn is bottled at cask-strength, without colouring and we haven’t even chill-filtered it, not even a jot.

Royal Brackla – The Royal Jubilee Commemorative 12 Year Old 1999 – Old Matt Cask (Douglas Laing)

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Speyside Single Malt, 12 Years, 50% ABV, $79

Smells of grass, mild peat, feint smoke and peanut brittle. The taste is very tangy and sweet, then peppery followed by a warm leathery peppered finish. Lemon, orange, vanilla and ginger start strong and fade very slowly. The pepper starts slowly and builds to a crescendo, then slowly diminishes into the mildly smoked finish. A splash of water tones down the citrus and spice elements and reveals a bit more peat and smoke. The finish is very long and peppery with the leathery bitterness persisting for minutes. This is a very complex and tasty whisky. Only the pepper seems to be out of balance even after dilution; however, I like a spicy whisky so this is fine by me. The more I drink, the more the citrus notes are evident… grapefruit and orange.

The bottler says:

A 12 year old Royal Brackla, this is part of Douglas Laing’s Old Malt Cask series. This particular release was bottled to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. One of just 250 bottles.

Aberlour A’Bunadh, Batch 42

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Speyside Single Malt, 10 Years, 60.3% ABV, $53

The aroma is overpowered by pepper (not surprising at 120°), but I detect notes of toffee and barley as well. It’s clear that this one needs some water to open up.

Ah, that’s better! Now scents of caramel, banana, orange and cinnamon move to the forefront. The taste is a montage of fruit and spice with orange, cinnamon, salty caramel, ginger, vanilla and cayenne. The finish is long and spicy with a leathery feel, but a light sweetness persists for a long time. During the transition, I detect graham crackers and vanilla. My initial taste of this last night wasn’t nearly as favorable, but spending some time with A’Bunadh has been enjoyable. This one is complex, fruity, sweet, spicy, woody and dry. It should definitely keep you interested with all that is going on with the nose and palate.

Here’s Aberlour’s description:

A’bunadh, Gaelic for ‘of the origin’, is matured exclusively in Oloroso ex-sherry butts. It is a natural cask-strength malt whisky produced without the use of modern-day chill filtering methods or the addition of water.

MacLeods 8 Year Old Highland (Ian MacLeod)

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Highland Single Malt, 8 Years, 40% ABV, $47

The nose is light with notes of raw honey, butterscotch, pear and burnt sugar. The taste is tart, sweet and lightly peppered. Lots of vanilla, apple, salted caramel and ginger lead in and settle into a slightly bitter citrus vanilla finish. The pepper is soft throughout, so the fading is much less notable. When its all said and done, all that remains is a mild oaky bitterness. The entry is very bold as compared to the nose and the finish. Still, this is a decent dram.

MacLeod’s bottling notes:

An undemanding 8 year old single malt from an unnamed Highland distillery, this was bottled by Ian Macleod.

Blair Athol 1995 – Manager’s Choice

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Highland Single Malt, 14 Years,
54.7% ABV, $315

With this one, I’m caught up and back on schedule!

Honey, ginger, caramel and pepper on the nose. Candied ginger, vanilla, orange, pepper and a bit of oak on the palate. It takes quite a bit of water to tone down the alcohol burn, then there are notes of vanilla, apple and clove to complement the candied ginger. That’s about it. I’m surprised that this one doesn’t have more to offer at the price. The taste ends with a mild oak and fades quickly. It’s good, but not spectacular.

The bottler notes:

The Blair Athol edition of Diageo’s recent Managers Choice range of single casks from every distillery in their arsenal. This was distilled in 1995 and bottled in 2009 from cask number 5989. Each bottle is individually numbered.

MacLeods 8 Year Old Islay (Ian MacLeod)

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Islay Single Malt, 8 Years, 40% ABV, $50

This my first Islay Scotch and I’ve really been looking forward to the experience. I’ll just dive right in.

Salty seawater, orange and lots of smoke. I think I need to give this one some room to breath. Okay, the smoke has settled down some and the orange has become orange peel and shortbread with just a hint of creamy vanilla. I also detect a faint spruce tree. I was expecting a note of iodine based on what I’ve heard, but this may be coming through as the fir for me. Anyway, its time for a sip. The taste is a lot of peat and oily smoke… not my favorite. Now, I do get a taste of iodine that persists for quite a while. Also, not my idea of a desired flavor. Other flavors I detect are vanilla and pepper.

Master of Malt says:

A peaty 8 year old Single Malt from a secret Islay, bottled by Ian Macleod as an introduction into malt whisky.